Rant of the day -- Beautiful Creatures based on the novel? Hardly!

I was hoping that the film adaptation of Kim Garcia and Margaret Stohl's YA novel Beautiful Creatures would be a decent book to film film adaptation. But after seeing the film last night, with the person who got me hooked on the series of books to begin with, all I can say is that, whether or not the movie itself was decent, one thing is certain -- it is NOT an adaptation (decent or otherwise) of the novel Beautiful Creatures. 

Now, I've previously defended Peter Jackson's adaptation of The Hobbit. Yes, Jackson made some changes. But while the Tolkien purists would disagree, The Hobbit film was still basically The Hobbit! The story still followed the same multiple plot threads. Jackson may have added stuff. Jackson may have even interpreted things differently, but it was still The Hobbit. Beautiful Creatures, on the other hand, is absolutely NOTHING like the book. In fact, with the exception of setting,the NAMES of the characters and a single bare bones main plot thread (Lena being claimed) this movie has NO resemblance to the book that it is supposedly based upon.

Obviously, I am not a nitpicker. I loved The Hobbit. So I don't mind alterations for big screen adaptations. But Beautiful Creatures goes far beyond an "adaptation." At best it is vaguely inspired by a novel by the same name. I mean, seriously -- the entire freaking thing is totally different. Major characters that are essential to the plot in the book series simply do NOT exist in this movie. It would be akin to removing Haymitch from The Hunger Games!

Now lots of comparisons have been made to Twilight. Let's get this straight -- the NOVEL is NOTHING at all like Twilight! Other than the fact both are Fantasy YA and have a romance, they aren't similar in any way. Is this movie? Well, I'm not sure. I was so distracted by the fact that major characters don't exist, the ones that do act completely out of character and the entire theme of the romance part of it (which is only ONE thread in the books) is completely turned on it's head in the film. I mean, it is EXACTLY the opposite. The acting was decent, but for fans of the book series, the script was a mess! I suppose I could say more about it, but at this point, what's the point? I still have the fourth and final installment of the series to read. And I think I'll do that, rather than mourn the loss of what could have a pretty darn good, and far deeper film that the Twilight series. 

But alas it wasn't -- at least we will always have the books!

 

Rant of the day -- where's the snow?

Okay, so I'm here in Northern Wisconsin and for the last four days I've been told that the  biggest snow storm of the season is going to pound us into oblivion. 6-12 inches of snow, 8-14 inches, maybe ice, freezing rain, and winds howling like pack of wolves during the Harvest moon. When is this storm going to hit? Well, today. In fact, right now. But guess what -- so far we've received a grand total of -- NOTHING!

Now I get it. Up here in the northwoods we are snow starved. We're in the middle of a drought and all of the snow businesses would LOVE to have a decent snow before this dry winter is over. But come on all you TV weather experts -- you guaranteed that we're going to have snow. 100% chance! And so far, nothing. I'm still told that the storm is coming! That before long, old man winter is going to be knocking on our doors and this pathetic 8 inches we have on the ground is going to at least double, and make for a respectable looking northwoods winter wonderland. Trust them, they say. Snow is coming. Winter is coming!

Well, George R.R. Martin fans have been hearing that since 1996 -- and still, winter has not come! And he's actually CREATING the weather at will -- so forgive me if I'm cynical the local TV weather experts ability to predict weather they are not personally creating, but until I see this big snow storm, I remain skeptical.

Wait, what the hell is that? Something outside my window has blue eyes -- holy  . . . .

Rant of the Day -- Quantum Leap on DVD, screwed due to Studio being cheap

I've been going through the late 80's/early 90's TV series Quantum Leap on DVD. Awesome show and one of my all time favorites. b=But the season two finale -- which is one of the most important episodes of the entire series -- is missing the most important song of the entire series (Georgia On My Mind).  In it's place, Universal Studios inserted some terrible elevator music in what was one of the most powerful scenes of the entire series! 

WTF? 

If you don't think music can make or break a scene, then go back and watch this without Georgia On My Mind. It totally ruins it for those of us who remember the way it's supposed to be! 

I know it all has to do with user rights, and the fact they didn't want to pay out the money to use the song on the DVD, but come on! If this was just any old episode, that would be one thing -- but this episode is essential to the overall arc of the series. Oh well, still a great series, and great DVD collection. But holy crap, it really sucks without George On My Mind!